Church data shows global Catholic population increasing but vocations falling

The number of Catholics worldwide has increased in recent years while vocations to the priesthood and religious life have continued to decline, according to new data from the Church’s Book of Statistics.

Agenzia Fides reported Oct. 17 that the most recent statistics on the number of baptized Catholics are from up until June 30, 2023, while other data are from up until December 31, 2023. In June 2023, there were more than 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, an increase of nearly 16 million since 2022. 

The increase was tracked across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and Catholics made up 17.8% of the world population.

The data show that there were 5,430 bishops across the world in 2023: 4,258 diocesan bishops (up 84 from the previous year) and 1,172 religious bishops (down seven). The number of priests worldwide declined 734 from 2022 to 2023, when there were 406,996: roughly 279,000 diocesan priests and about 128,000 religious priests. Europe lost the most priests (almost 2,500), followed by the Americas (800) and Oceania (44). By contrast, Asia and Africa saw increases in priestly vocations (gains of 1,145 and 1,451, respectively).

Women religious decreased 9,805 to a total of 589,423. Europe lost more than 7,000 women religious, and the Americas lost slightly more than 4,000. Once again, Africa saw an increase of nearly 2,000, while Asia saw a slight increase of 46 new women religious.

The number of major diocesan and religious seminarians decreased in 2023 as well, going from 108,481 to 106,495 in just one year. Africa was the only continent that saw an increase in calls to the seminary (383). In Asia, the number of major seminarians decreased by 1331; in Europe, 661; in the Americas, 362; and in Oceania, 15.

The permanent diaconate has proven to be the only vocation that continues to increase, growing by a net 1,234, to 51,433.